Press Trust of India
Nagpur, Nov 26: Ravichandran Ashwin questioned all those who are critical of pitches offering substantial turn and retorted by saying why no one raises a question when an Ashes Test at Trent bridge ends in just a shade over two days.
The feisty off-spinner also did not forget to take a dig at the South African tracks like the one in Johannesburg where he did not get any purchase from a fifth day track back in December 2013.
“I did not complain after Johannesburg (Test). I was dropped for a year after that. And, I am not going to complain playing here. There’s no reason why I should have complaints. Swing, seam and bounce for two days at Trent Bridge (referring to the Ashes game this year) – match over. I don’t know what all this talk about Indian pitches,” Ashwin told reporters Thursday with sarcasm.
The Tamil Nadu tweaker said that learning to play spin requires skill. “What is the problem about spin and bounce? It is good to have even spin and bounce, isn’t it? It’s about skills for batsmen to play and counter it,” Ashwin put forth his viewpoint.
“Fortunately or unfortunately, I don’t have the rights over grounds men, to say over what kind of pitch he needs to prepare. Once that’s done, it is my job to go out and play,” said Ashwin, who picked his second five-wicket haul in the series.
Ashwin also did not seem amused by the fact that focus of discussion during the Test series has been the nature of tracks. “The discussions about the pitch are getting out of hand. That’s straight from my heart, you can beg to differ with me. There are enough good cricketers from both sides that you can talk about,” he shot back.